Milo Ventimiglia: Rocky "Hero"

Dark and handsome actor Milo Ventimiglia is probably already on your radar for his many popular TV roles on "Gilmore Girls", "American Dreams" and "Boston Public". Milo is now starring in the hot series "Heroes" where he plays Peter, a male nurse who is an empath with flying dreams. Milo has taken on the big screen in the thrillers Cursed and Stay Alive and the comedy Dirty Deeds. Now, you can catch him playing Sly Stallone's son in the final Rocky movie Rocky Balboa.

We sat down with Milo in Beverly Hills (he was wearing a stylish black suit and white shirt) to learn how he got the role, that he's nervous in front of a camera, what it is like to play the son of an icon, what is up with "Heroes" and why he is into photography and hot 1960's "muscle cars". Yo... (as Rocky would say) check it out...

TeenHollywood: Did you grow up watching these films and what was it like being in one?

Milo: I did. I was negative one when the first one came out. But, by the time of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th one... I pretty much grew up in the Clubber Lange, Ivan Drago era (boxers in Rocky films). I've always been a fan of the films. I thought they were great, entertaining and I really got into the underdog story and how if your mind is in the right direction and your heart is full of the right kind of stuff, then you'll succeed. You'll triumph over adversity, over anything.

TeenHollywood: Rocky is such a big part of American culture. What's the history of you getting the part as his son?

Milo: I had just moved back from New York to L.A. and had gotten in a car accident the night before and I remember driving away [from my audition] in my fully dented-up car, back to my house thinking 'oh, I think that went well. I don't really know. Hopefully, it was good. I've gotta get my car fixed and unpack some boxes'. I kind of put my mind off it and about an hour and a half or two hours later, I got a phone call from my agent (he starts singing the Rocky theme ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba... etc.) I'm like 'Well, did I get it?' He's like 'yeah you got it, you got it!' Real excitement.

TeenHollywood: How was meeting Stallone?

Milo: There's kind of that fright and excitement all at the same time. When you first meet someone of his stature, it's literally, 'oh my God, I can't believe I'm in the room with Sylvester Stallone'. But, he disarms you. He looks you in the eye when he talks to you and he speaks clearly and he'll make you laugh and he's very kind and warm-hearted. So, being on the set with him and actually going through the process of playing his son...he created a world of comfort so that I could play the part and be expressive.

TeenHollywood: What was it like to work with him?

Milo: I think I had the great good fortune to watch Sly the artist. To really watch him in all arenas; as an actor, not that many people get to watch him turn that character on. They don't understand that he's playing a role and when he turns that role on, he has a very slow look in his eye and a sweet smile on his face in the way that he approaches the world. To read a script that he wrote and see him composing those shots, I took it as an opportunity to quietly watch, observe someone that had created this world, that knew the world so very well.

TeenHollywood: Did he encourage your input into your character?

Milo: He was comfortable enough to where, if I had ideas, if I had thoughts, that I could go up and talk to him. He really did create an environment that was welcoming to ideas and suggestions, welcoming of ideas that were going to better the film and make it more rich and more real and more accessible to anybody. That's what these films really are. They're accessible to people.

TeenHollywood: Do you stay in touch with him?

Milo: I still have phone conversations with him and we still touch base and check in with one another. I learned about a month and a half ago that he watches the TV show that I'm on ("Heroes"). That's kind of an amazing thing when you hear that this person you got to work with and had looked up to for so many years is actually following what you're doing. That's a nice thing to know.

TeenHollywood: Were there any funny moments on set with you and Sly?

Milo: I remember that both of us, we have a little problem with our mouths, crooked mouths. I remember him telling me (in Sly voice) 'make sure your mouth is warmed up because it's cold out'. You could see the two of us when we were filming in Philly, standing in front of heat lamps just (demonstrates wide-mouthed ooowwww, ahhhh ) moving our mouths. Otherwise, it freezes up. We got to bond on that. We both have the crooked mouth and if it's below 32 we're fu**ed and our face freezes up.

TeenHollywood: Your character is embarrassed when his dad wants to come out of retirement. Has a relative ever done something that embarrassed you and, if so, what would you do about it?

Milo: I wouldn't ignore it. I think ignoring something that's bothering you is like putting a band-aid over the Grand Canyon. It's doesn't really cover it. It doesn't heal, doesn't solve anything. Of course I've had family, I've had friends, I've had people put me in embarrassing, compromising situations but I think, when you talk to somebody and you're up front with them and tell them how it makes you feel, hopefully there's an understanding and a want [on their part] to not do that again.

TeenHollywood: Did you get into boxing after this film and what do you do to stay in shape?

Milo: I think, over the course of my life, I've seen a handful of boxing bouts on television with some friends but I never followed it too much. I saw my first match when I was in Vegas and we were shooting the film. We saw Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor fight and what was the bigger surprise to me wasn't the match itself but the fans. These people just were excited for the bloodletting. It kind of reminded me of Roman times where there's a coliseum and people's excitement to see if the lion was gonna get the gladiator. It was just an amazing spectacle. Keeping in shape now? With my work schedule, it's tough to get to the gym but I jump a lot of rope, don't drink, do drugs or smoke so...

TeenHollywood: So, no boxing for you?

Milo: No. I don't want to get hit. That was one thing watching Antonio (Tarver) and Sylvester for ten days. They [really] hit each other and I realized, I don't want to be a boxer so it's kind of bob and weave and far as you can. Gettin' hit is no fun.

TeenHollywood: Did you run up the steps in Philadelphia [the famous Rocky victory run]?

Milo: Well, I didn't run, I walked. It was my last day of filming and it was about to snow and I was about to get on a plane. As I'm walking up the steps of the museum, I see a hundred people running up and down the steps jumping up and down with their arms [up] and I'm like 'Oh, my god, you're kidding. Seriously?' I watched it and, as I got closer, I realized it was our film crew with all the locals of Philadelphia. Anybody that day could come out and run up the steps and they put all of these people at the end of the movie which is great. It was such a generous thing to give back to Philadelphia.

TeenHollywood: Okay, tell us about your love of 1960's muscle cars.

Milo: I have a great appreciation and affinity for classic '60's cars. I think it's gotten blown out of proportion but yes, I love classic cars. I have a '67 Chevelle Super-Sport. Her name is Evelyn.

TeenHollywood: "She" has a name? That's a pretty serious affinity. Any other interesting hobbies?

Milo: I'm really into photography. I actually got a picture that I took on set from Rocky published in Entertainment Weekly. In the holiday movie preview [issue] is a picture of Sylvester in the cemetery sitting in front of Adrian Balboa's grave. That was my picture. Photography is my hobby. I like taking pictures. I haven't really gotten into digital. I've tried but I like film. I'm a big film guy. I just got an assignment for a magazine where it's all Polaroid. That's cool to capture a different medium and different format. I like to see the way that we see as people. I like to see a large range as opposed to a little box.

TeenHollywood: Was Sly okay with you publishing the picture from his set?

Milo: I spoke to Sly to get his permission because after I took the picture, I blew one up and sent it to him. I have this really cool message from him that I saved and have in my computer now. I was happy that he thought it was a good representation of the film. I said 'Sly, a lot of people are going to buy tickets to see this movie. They're going to see it on spectacle, they'll see if they want to see it because they know the legacy, the history of these movies but people that are going to view you as an artist are going to be intrigued by a photograph like this and the picture is as much yours as it is mine.' Because I literally took my camera and put it right up against where he placed his [movie] camera and I took the picture of him. That was a fun thing.

TeenHollywood: Do you want to write or direct?

Milo: I'm a terrible writer. I have directed before. I've done some stuff for Warner Brothers and I have a couple of things coming up in the hopper. I favor the other end of things. I like producing. I like directing. I'm terribly nervous in front of a camera. It's a nerve-wracking thing to be bare naked with your emotions and have it documented on film forever. So the prospect of being on the other side of the camera has always been very enticing to me.

TeenHollywood: Let's talk "Heroes". Is there a cast member on "Heroes" that you haven't had a chance to work with yet?

Milo: Leonard Roberts, Ali Larter. I think I've worked with everybody else. That was the nice thing about my character. I got to bounce around. But I haven't worked with Ali or Leonard or Noah yet.

TeenHollywood: Are you surprised at how well "Heroes" has done?

Milo: If I were to say I was surprised at how well the show is doing, I'd probably look like an idiot. From day one of reading the script, "Heroes" just blew me away; the twists, the turns, character development and the build, and then add everything else; the writers, the production team and all the directors that have come through, it really has just grown into this wonderful world. It does stretch across, an American influence or an American appreciation but I also hear about people in the U.K., in Australia, Asia really looking forward to the show having seen bits and pieces of it.

TeenHollywood: What's coming up on the show?

Milo: I'd have to say, if you were blow away by what you saw in the first half of the season, you're really going to be blown away by the second half. When there's that fairy dust sprinkled on things and that excitement 'are they really going to do this? Oh, my God, they just did it'. It's going to be kind of hold your breath television.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.